IMBA Needs Local Trail Knowledge
California Wilderness Update, October 12, 2001

Action Alert!

Click here for more California Wilderness Campaign Information

For Immediate Release
10-12-01
Contact: Dan Vardamis, Advocacy Associate and IMBA Trail News Editor

303-545-9011

U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer is preparing California Wilderness legislation and hopes to present it to Congress this fall. IMBA needs California mountain bikers to identify trails within the proposed Wilderness areas that are popular rides so that we can work to preserve access to them. Senator Boxer's staff has been very accommodating and is respectful of our strong interest in maintaining these trail opportunities - as long as we know where they are!

The trouble is, we still don't know what exact areas will be proposed for Wilderness protection. For months we've been asking the wilderness community for detailed maps, and they have not been forthcoming. The best we can do is point you to the California Wilderness Coalition website and their list of areas under consideration: http://www.calwild.org/pw/

Senator Boxer's office has promised to provide IMBA with more information in the next month. We'll need to find Californians who know these places, so we'll email again when we learn more.

Meanwhile... We Need Specific Local Trail Knowledge

One thing you can count on: The California Wilderness Coalition hopes to designate most official Forest Service roadless areas as Wilderness. So if you know that a place you or your friends ride is a roadless area, we want to know about it. Please provide the location, names of trails, and other relevant details.

Please send specific trail information to IMBA CA State Representative Jim Haagen-Smit at

Research Your Area

You can download generalized maps of the Forest Service roadless areas from the U.S. Forest Service web site: http://roadless.fs.fed.us/states/ca/state3.shtml

Meet with Your County Supervisors

If you have national forest land in your county, it is time to meet with your county supervisor. Supervisors are hearing from local wilderness advocates but are not hearing from local mountain bikers. It is crucial that they know what we want and that they recognize mountain bikers as informed constituents. It is also important to stress that we want to support Wilderness AND preserve trail opportunities for mountain biking. In some areas, boundary adjustments may be a simple solution. In other areas, the process will be more contentious. Some county boards of supervisors HAVE ALREADY endorsed the Wilderness proposals so time is of the essence. To learn who your county supervisors are visit: http://www.csac.counties.org/counties_close_up/county_web/index.html

Please Forward This Email to Your Mountain Biking Friends

Encourage them to sign up for IMBA's CA Wilderness Update on the IMBA homepage at http://www.imba.com. IMBA is collecting as many names as possible to keep Californians posted on Wilderness proposals in their area. The more people that are educated regarding local trails and Wilderness, the more effective IMBA's campaign will be.